Metaphorical
by Drisowen
Summary: In progress. Set two years after the beginning of the manga/anime. In which many will be tested in love, hate, words and spells. In life, in death, and even the places in between. What does it really mean to be named? Rated for later chapters.


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of the LOVELESS universe. A few scenes in this story[including this chapter] may seem reminiscent of Sabriel by Garth Nix. However, since the idea is pretty universal, I claim no rights, but deny that it belongs to anyone else. I hace included and original character. I swear he is not paired with any canon character.

Warnings: [[This chapter]] Character near-death, blood, violence, mentions of non-consensual behavior, attempted murder.

-~-

**Words have no wings but they can fly a thousand miles.**

**--Old Korean Proverb**

** -~-**

Ritsuka pressed the power button on his computer, waiting impatiently as the machine booted up and the windows logo materialized on the screen of the notebook laptop. He tugged off his winter scarf and the warm woolen hat covering his shivering ears. Melted snow dripped down onto the floor as his outer jacket was removed as well, and the small teenager shifted to ensure that none of the liquid splashed onto the keys.

Immediately, he connected to the wireless internet provided by the hotel he was staying with. He looked over his shoulder as the door opened and closed. Another bundled up adolescent began stripping off the outer layers of clothing and snow until finally ears the color of mint emerged, followed by hair of the same shade. Youji looked up at the other boy, smiling faintly as he finally got comfortable.

His cell phone beeped an obnoxiously cheery tune almost the moment he finally sat down on his bed. Ristuka watched in amusement as Youji hastily dragged the mobile device out of his pocket and began texting. It was probably Natsuo. The two of them were barely ever apart and it showed. Ritsuka has spied the mint-haired teen texting under tables and behind walls all day.

He turned his attention back to the screen and grinned as he looked at his instant messenger's buddy list. The first name had an icon next to it indicating that the user was online from a mobile phone. Smirking over his shoulder, Ritsuka opened a message box and quickly typed,

"Stop texting your Sacrifice, Natsuo. You're distracting him."

Which was almost instantly countered, as the instant message with Zer0 flashed an incoming message:

"Leave me alone, it's important."

A different icon showed the person he was looking for to be idle. Not offline, but not paying attention. It figures, Ritsuka thought, ears flattening against his hair in annoyance.

He was sulking, trying to play solitaire instead of habitually checking to see if the idle icon has disappeared when he got a message from a user he hadn't seen in a long time.

He tried not to let his hands shake or his nervousness show as he typed a response to the user called 'Beloved.' Feeling dizzy, Ritsuka leaned forward onto the desk and the laptop, eyes blurring with fatigue. He didn't even notice as the green-haired teen behind him cried out in stress and ran out of the room.

His eyes closed and the compulsion of _sleep_ carried him away from consciousness.

Another text box opened as his body relaxed in sleep declaring the subject of all of his nightmares. But Ritsuka's eyes were shut and his computer shut down, erasing the evidence in a simple, elegant effort.

Kio's fingers flew over the keyboard as tears stung his eyes and his entire body shook. This can't be happening, he thought. This is unfair!

He glanced over his shoulder where his roommate was curled up on the floor, mostly unconscious and barely breathing. Blood matted in the thick blonde hair, pouring from a deep gash across the already scarred throat.

Kio knelt at his side and pulled back the red-stained tresses and couldn't help but wish that he could be the hero he'd always wanted to be. His best friend was bleeding to death on the living room floor because there was nothing he could do. Useless.

The sound of footsteps on the hardwood floor pulled his attention away from the ragged breathing and unfocused eyes he had been focusing on. A few tears spilled out of his eyes and caught on his glasses as his head tilted up to view the door to their apartment, slowly swinging inward.

For a panicked moment, he thought that the assailant had returned to finish off the Fighter on the floor, or perhaps to kill Kio as well. But the man that entered the room and softly shut the door behind him did not have the look of a killer.

For a moment, his painter's imagination gave Kio the sense that this man was the image of what Soubi would look like if all the life had been sucked out of him. Pale hair hung in a simple wave against his shoulders, nearly straight bangs framing his face along with the small, silver-rimmed glasses covering his vividly green eyes.

The impression was gone a moment later as the man kneeled calmly next to the two occupants of the apartment and reached out a pale hand to touch Soubi's trembling body. In an instant, Kio felt the most terrifying sensation and scuttled away on his hands and knees.

The man in front of him was radiating cold, and as he watched, the life in his eyes faded away at the same moment his best friend let out a ragged, final sigh.

Agatsuma Soubi felt himself slip away from consciousness and, quite startling, into the coldest water he could have never imagined. There seemed to be a river passing around him, though with the pain in his neck, he could barely keep track of what was happening.

The calm, lulling water chilled him to the bone in a matter of seconds, and he felt it surge just lightly to pull him downstream. Just as his heart leapt to his throat in fear, a strong arm wrapped around his waist and another around his chest and he was lifted into a standing position.

His eyes opened, hazily taking in the view of bland, grey mist floating serenely above the surface of the water that stretched out forever. The water was still flowing against his legs, pushing insistently.

_Let go _the water seemed to whisper. _It would be so much easier to float away. Away from the pain, the sorry, the loneliness…_

"Don't listen," an unfamiliar, lilting voice remarked behind his ear. He almost jumped when he remembered that there must be someone still there, holding him up. "You're supposed to be so good with words, and yet as soon as they're implied instead of spoken, you fall right into the trap."

Soubi wanted to demand an explanation, or at least a name, but then the pain of the knife wounds in the throat came back at full force. He coughed, and as a cold, freezing liquid bubbled out of his mouth, he realized that he was once again lying horizontal. Startled eyes found Kio staring blankly at him, mouth hanging open.

He barely had the will power to look up and watch as a fair-haired man leaned over his computer desk and typed on the keyboard. After a moment, he took a card out of his pocket and said, "You should go to a hospital now."

He left the room without looking back. Kio nearly ran three cars off the road trying to get to the hospital faster than an ambulance.

--

"Natsuo! Natsuo!" His voice was getting hoarse from screaming, but he couldn't stop until he found his Fighter. Something was wrong!

Youji had only received one other strange text message from Natsuo in the past few months. It had simply read, "I know why Soubi-san hates Ritsu-sensei. Nagisa-sensei spilled." The revelation had made Youji just the slightest bit more appreciative of the older man, though he would never go so far as to claim friendship with Soubi.

But now, wandering the dark halls in the Seven Voices Academy, Youji couldn't stop wishing that Soubi was with him. None of the light switches would respond to his insistent pressing, so the hallways stayed dark, and all the doors along the way were locked. So what if it was almost two in the morning? It was still creepy…

He had already checked the room he shared with Natsuo twice. The red-head was nowhere to be found. He considered asking Nagisa-sensei, but eventually decided against it, realizing that she'd be angrier that he had woken her than the fact that Natsuo was missing.

He paused outside the door to his own room, leaning against the wall in silent thought. He was about to contemplate his choices again when he heard the slightest shuffle from the other side of the wall and a breathy whimper.

Suddenly he was back inside the room and tearing open the door to the bathroom, his lips drawing back in a feral snarl as his ears flattened against his mint-colored hair.

"Let go of my Fighter!" he whispered, his threatening tone rough from the earlier screaming. He was trying nobly to fight back the tint of red taking over his vision as his blood surged angrily through his veins. The sight would be burned forever into his mind.

Natsuo sitting on top of the counter, his shoulders hunched up in a protective gesture, his legs held down and apart against the cool marble. His ears trembled atop his head and flicked twice as Youji watched. Then his Fighter looked up, revealing the strip of cloth tied tightly against his mouth, cutting his lips.

It was without thinking, or even the realization that he should never have _felt_ so angry that Youji launched himself at his teacher, aiming for the eyes, just as Ritsuka's crazy brother had done before.

Instead of feeling that evil man's eyes under his nails, he felt something sharp, a blade, as it scraped the top of his head, barely missing his ears.

"No way, teme," he snarled, crouching down and out of the way, "those aren't for you, you sick creep! Pervert! Pedophile!"

His back slammed against the wall and he felt the nauseating sensation of acquiring a sensation as a hand closed gently but firmly around his throat.

"Now now, Youji-kun," that sickly sweet voice whispered to him, "haven't I asked you to call me Ritsu-sensei?"

--

An error has occurred. The system has reported the death of a LOVELESS and a ZERO candidate. Please reboot the system. An error has occurred….

--

"And then he totally walked away!" Kio said, raising his arms in a gesture that was universally used to convey 'I don't know.' He was animatedly telling his bed-ridden friend what had happened, for the fourth time. It was one of the funnier things that the morphine did to him; it messed with his memory.

Soubi looked up and blinked at his owlishly. But the drugs made him even cuter than usual, too. Kio reached out a hand and ruffled his hair, then slowly smoothed it back down into its natural place, hand lingering just a moment too long to be natural. The two nurses in the hallway giggled to each other as they watched the affectionate gesture.

"But where did the water come from?" Soubi asked, his eyes half-lidded and a dreamy, accidentally sexy look stared at Kio as he felt his mouth go dry.

_Maybe I shouldn't have asked those nurses to leave us alone. I'm not sure I trust myself. _

It was true that Kio had loved Soubi far more than he had ever been loved by another human being. In fact, though Soubi was his best friend and room-mate, though he was relatively attractive, smart, and had had well enough time to seduce the blonde man, he had thus been unsuccessful.

Not to mention that now there was a little thing with black hair and sharp teeth between them. Metaphorically speaking. Though Rit-chan did have sharp teeth.

But Soubi would never love Kio the way he loved Ritsuka. The way he loved his master. Kio had long ago given up, but every once in a while, the desire would rise up in his chest and burn his heart as he watched how happy the small Rit-chan made Soubi. No competition.

"Kio." Soubi whispered his name. Kio looked up to find those soft blue eyes had lost the extra appeal and were now only gazing at him with the mild interest that he deserved. Oh well.

"Yeah, Sou-chan?" he responded, reaching out again to touch the soft blonde locks, unable to keep his hands away. After all, Soubi would probably never be this relaxed around him again.

"The water," that silky voice reminded him, "Where did it come from?"

Kio stared at his best friend, trying to determine whether he was asking about the glass of water at his bedside or something else. After a moment, he pointed and asked, "This?"

Soubi shook his head and grimaced as he disturbed the sensitive new scar tissue trying to heal on his throat. After a moment, he said, "I was in the water, and then I coughed it up when I was lying on the floor after…"

The rest he left unsaid. Kio knew.

Kio's brow furrowed in thought as he recalled, quite clearly, that Soubi had expelled water from his lungs after he seemed to have died on the floor, no where near any liquids.

"I don't know, Sou-chan." He finally said, wishing that he could have said something witty, or amazing, or at least found a way to give his friend some relief.

Just as he had come up with something positively charming to say, a nurse entered, looked at Soubi's charts and the machine readings and gave him another dose of morphine.

She turned and smiled shyly at Kio. "I'm sorry, sir," she apologized meekly, "but we don't want him to hurt himself, even if it means keeping him under a little longer. He should be awake again in a few hours. Maybe you should visit the café downstairs."

Kio sighed under his breath but grinned at the lightly blushing nurse. Her blonde hair was tied into a neat bun at the back of her head.

"Is that an invitation?" he asked, smiling at her, and lowering his eyes in a seductive gaze as she nodded her head and a blush crossed her well-defined cheeks.

"I'd be honored to get a cup of coffee with a real nurse. Your job must be hard." Even as he held out his arm to offer as an escort, he was ashamed with himself.

_Even if she's not really my type, maybe making friends means I can stay past visitor hours_.

--

The door to the apartment shared by Agatsuma Soubi and Kaido Kio slid back and stood open, allowing the cool fall breeze to drift into the interior. Slowly, a small figure slipped into the darkened rooms and peered into each room as if searching for danger. After a few moments of searching the apartment, the figure slinked back to the entrance and flipped a switch.

Two simple lamps decorating the living area lit up instantly, casting a warm and homey glow on the walls, revealing the scattered art supplies and half-finished canvases taking up the space between the couch and entertainment center, complete with a television, a play station, and a few other related digital devices.

The smaller figure ducked back outside to lift his companion onto his shoulder, or that was at least the intention, and proceeded to drag the young boy inside. He left behind a trailing smear of red across the hardwood floor, a sight that made his partner nauseous.

Natsuo swept his sweat-soaked bangs away from his face and pressed a finger to the bandage covering his right eye, as if to assure himself it was still there. It was a nervous habit that he had developed when he had almost lived in Nagisa-sensei's lab, when he had been bandaged up after his body was damaged.

Natsuo had sat patiently as a nurse for the Seven Voices Academy helped Nagisa-sensei stitch up the various gashes and cuts on his body while Ritsu-sensei himself tried to console the sobbing truck driver that was still apologizing and explaining that he hadn't seen the small, red-haired child dash out in front of his vehicle. When Nagisa-sensei asked Natsuo if it hurt and he responded negatively, she had smiled at him. It was a secret smile, a sign that she was truly proud of him.

He would always remember that smile. He was almost happy that the truck has struck him, that the steel had almost crushed his tiny cheek bone under the impact and had mostly mangled his eye. _At least Nagisa-sensei was proud of me._

With a surge of energy that he never knew he possessed, Natsuo lifted his bleeding Sacrifice onto the closest available surface. _Oops_, he thought, _Soubi will have to forgive me for getting blood all over his couch. It's his fault, anyway. Shouldn't have a white couch_

The long, straight hair that flopped lifelessly over the side and trailed onto the floor was slowly turning red, an almost perfect match for Natsuo's own hair and ears. Blood stained the unconscious male's hair, skin, clothes; it was already beginning to sink into the floorboards.

Natsuo quickly checked to make sure the other youth was breathing, checked his pulse, and then pressed the back of his hand against Youji's forehead. _I wish I knew something about medicine. I check his pulse, but all it tells me is that his heart is beating. I guess it never occurred to me, since we don't feel pain. Nagisa-sensei is the one that puts us back together. _

He stood up and went into Soubi's bedroom, stepping across the dark floor towards the bathroom. His foot met a wet patch on the floor and the red-head went crashing to the ground, skidding across the floor and bumping his head on the legs of a desk. The laptop perched there was disturbed from its hibernation by the movement and lit up, throwing an eerie blue light across the floor.

Natsuo stifled a horrified gasp as he saw the liquid on the floor, now also on his feet, hands, and knees. The black pools reflected the blue twilight softly, but he knew that when he turned the small knob on the desk lamp, those puddles would be a brilliant crimson, probably crusting into black at the edges he hadn't disturbed.

_Why is Soubi-san's room covered in blood? I didn't bring Youji in here, and I'm not that dirty,_ Natsuo thought, trying to calm his frantically beating heart. He looked down at himself and saw the blood streaks on his favorite off-the-shoulder top, also black in the light. He could feel himself shaking, but couldn't bring himself to stand up and move away.

Tears welled up in his eyes against his will, but he didn't let them fall their course. Slowly, he brought his right arm across his body and clamped his hand over the name emblazoned on his shoulder, hidden by the cheerfully colored shirt he wore.

It was the only comfort he could produce, since his Sacrifice was unconscious in the next room over, possibly still in danger from some unknown source. If someone had attacked Soubi, worse, had _wounded_ Soubi, then there was no way that a lone Fighter could take them out. Even one as awesome as Natsuo.

The front door slid wearily open, as if tired of being pushed around all day, and admitted another man, older than the two already in the dwelling. Natsuo's ear flicked nervously atop his head at the sound, but otherwise he was still paralyzed. Even as the heavy, burdened footsteps drew closer to the bedroom bathed in blue light, he just stared at the doorway, unable and unwilling to escape whatever fate lie before him.

But the man that wearily flipped the light switch on the wall was a relatively familiar figure. His lean body, though flamboyantly dressed, was decorated with a wicked tattoo that covered his back (though it was hidden from view now) and several small silver piercings in his ears.

Kaido Kio peered down at the shaking youth against his roommate's desk who was still staring blankly up at him with a terrified, pitiful look.

He had returned home after the pretty nurse had winced and informed his that _no_, he couldn't stay after visitor hours because it was against hospital policy, but she would try to let him in a little early the next day under the pretence that he was returning something to her. She was a sweet girl.

In fact, she had listened to Kio as he described his relationship with the blonde man and was clearly sympathetic. Tears glistened in her eyes and she held his hand comfortingly when he recalled how he'd found Soubi, slowly bleeding to death in their own apartment. At the end of it, she had only said:

"I hope that someone loves you as much as you love him, someday, Kaido-kun."

His brain was fried from all of the drama and emotional upheavals of the day, and he barely knew what to think when he found the small, frightened Zero sitting on the floor, tears in his eyes and blood smeared across his face. Instead of using logic and reason, he went for the instinctual approach.

"Natsuo-kun," he whispered, his low voice betraying his weariness. He kneeled and reached out a hand to briefly and softly touch the skin of the young Zero's knee. The child blinked in response, seeming to banish the fear behind those unnaturally expressive eyes. There was a moment of silence and then Natsuo chuckled lightly, the sound hollow and broken to Kio's ears.

"Hey there," the redhead choked out, quickly donning a plastic smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Thought I was gonna have to clean up your mess, Kaido-kun." He gestured vaguely and uneasily at the blood on the floor, now gleaming bright red in the lamplight.

Kio shook his head to himself and then did something that was beyond his normal level of bravery.

He reached out and took the shaking youth into his arms and, after a moment of hesitation, lifted the small boy off the floor and walked him out of Soubi's room and back into the foyer.

Ritsuka stepped on the airplane with a scowl on his face and a slow anger burning in his chest. His ears were pressed to his scalp to tightly that they almost disappeared, but his tail twitched in agitation, restlessly moving about behind him.

It had been almost three days since he had woken up alone in the cold hotel room with a note on the door that was obviously written in Youji's messing hand:

_Have to go home. Sorry! Tell Nagisa-sensei I had to go, okay? Later. _

He hadn't bothered concealing his relief that the other boy was gone. He had gotten unbearably obnoxious in the days that they were sharing a room while Septimal Moon met. He was constantly texting his Fighter or whining that he wasn't with his Fighter, or dreaming loudly about arguing with his Fighter, or --- the list went on.

But his relief was short-lived. When he texted Soubi's cell phone, he had waited patiently for almost two hours before he tried calling. Soubi was always saying that if Ritsuka called him, he would answer. But of course, the phone rang, over and over again, before Soubi's cheery voice mail picked up the call and asked him to leave a message with his name and number.

He tried not to be impatient. But Soubi had never ignored him for such a long time before. Even if he didn't call back, the college student was likely to appear out of nowhere to bother Ritsuka or distract him once he was doing something productive.

No phone call. No text. No Soubi appearing, no matter how many times he worked on his English paper.

He blew air out of his mouth, aiming fruitlessly for the dark bangs hanging into his face. He stood near the partitioned corner labeled "Baggage Claim" hoping that if he made himself unaware of his surroundings, a certain tall blonde would sneak up with his bag teasing Ritsuka that he should pay attention.

People milled about all around him, stepping around him as if he were a piece of the scenery. Suddenly, someone stopped directly behind him. Out of the corner of his left eye, Ritsuka saw a light blue rolling suitcase hit the ground by his feet and he recognized it as his own. His heart fluttered in his chest and the anger diminished as he turned around with a bright smile.

He blinked. Time slowed down in a way that was not natural. The people collecting their bags and chattering on cellular phones faded away into the background.

"I got you're bag for you, Ritsuka."

He tried not to let his voice tremble.

"Seimei."

Ritsuka watched as his older brother easily stowed the blue suitcase in the trunk of a modest compact car and then opened the back right door and held it open. Ducking his head, the younger boy climbed into the car and quickly fastened his seatbelt. The he looked forward and immediately flattened his ears again.

A young man with long dark hair was glaring at him from the driver's seat through the rear-view mirror, agitatedly tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. His angry stare was interrupted when Seimei plopped down in the passenger seat and pressed his seat belt into place, all the while wearing a placid smile.

"Welcome back, Ritsuka-kun." The other man said, voice low. Before Ritsuka could react, his older brother casually reached over and delivered a light smack to the black hair.

"Be polite, Nisei. Only I may address Ritsuka so personally." Seimei said, his voice chilly. Nisei recoiled from the hateful tone and turned large, pathetic eyes around the seat toward Ritsuka.

"Welcome back, Aoyagi-san." He said, bowing his head slightly in respect. Ritsuka blinked blankly for a moment before he realized that a response was in order.

"Oh, thank you … Nisei-san? I'm sorry, I don't remember your last name." His ears flattened in embarrassment as Nisei only nodded and pulled away from the airport and onto one of the major roads. He controlled the care nicely and was a good driver, but it didn't make Ritsuka feel any more safe.

However, his mind couldn't quite grasp why he felt frightened and he unable to examine it, as Seimei made small talk and asked politely about his trip. They pulled up to the house where Ritsuka lived with their parents and Seimei got out of the car to help his brother with the suitcase.

As they stood at the door, Ritsuka cocked one ear in a questioning gesture and asked,

"Aren't you coming in, Seimei?"

His brother smiled kindly at him and simply responded that he had his own apartment that he would be going home to. He placed a kiss on the corner of Ritsuka's lips and returned to the car, which pulled out of sight.

Just as he reached for the door, his cell phone rang, a cheery little tune playing out into the cool night air, vibrating through the bass notes against his jeans pocket.

Digging into the pocket, he dragged out the mobile device an stared incredulously at the screen. Then he flipped open the phone.

"Soubi?" he asked, almost breathing the name.

"Hai, Ritsuka. I'm sorry I missed your calls. I've been very busy." The voice responded, sounding tired and maybe a bit slurred. Ritsuka closed his eyes and let out the breath he had been holding, smiling at the familiar tone.

Suddenly there was a scuffle on the other end, with what sounded like Soubi telling someone else to leave him alone before a new voice, equally familiar, came over the line, sounding somewhere between distressed and amused.

"Hey, Rit-chan," Kaido Kio said in a manner that absolutely guaranteed that he was smiling that confident smirk that he had.

His tone turned serious and commanding in the next instant. "Don't let Sou-chan fool you!" he said, and Ritsuka could hear the other blonde man demanding his phone back in the background. "Soubi's been in the hospital for almost four days!"

Ritsuka felt his brain go numb even as he heard Soubi grumble, "It hasn't been that long" behind Kio's random chattering. He was barely aware that a question pushed past his lips to whisper into the mouthpiece.

Kio paused for a moment in his rapid speaking and then began again in a more tentative voice.

"Oh, well, what happened? Someone tried to kill him I think. Sou-chan won't say much about it, but it couldn't have been an accident."

Ritsuka held his breath, clutching the phone with suddenly clammy fingers. He could feel his small heart pumping frantically at the hesitation that suddenly overtook Kio's normally jovial voice.

The phone bounced off the concrete as Ritsuka turned on his heel and sprinted full out down the road, abandoning his bag. His footsteps echoed off the cement and asphalt as he disappeared out of sight of the house.

Ritsuka was stopped twice by nurses in crisp white uniform and told quite sternly not to run in the hospital. He flattened his ears, plastered the most pathetic look on his face and then apologized with tears welling up in his eyes. The first nurse looked at him in an uncomfortable fashion before walking away. The second did not.

"Oh you poor thing!" She cried, kneeling down to Ritsuka's height and brushing the hair away from his face. Her dark hair was pulled back into a neat bun at the back of her head, but he could smell the scent of her shampoo when she leaned closer to him. He hunched his shoulders and tried to calm his beating heart.

"Are you lost, dear?" the nurse asked in a kind voice, smiling at him reassuringly. After a moment of hesitation, the dark head nodded, ears still down in upset.

"My friend is here," he began, finally looking up again and peering pleadingly into the pretty nurse's face. "I just found out, because I was out of town. His name is Agatsuma, Soubi. But I can't remember the room number."

The nurse blinked at him for a moment, owlishly, and Ritsuka was reminded of his friend Yuiko, who still came off as a bit of an airhead, despite her good looks and cheerful attitude. Then the woman smiled, and her calm demeanor completely dispelled the image of his friend.

"Lucky for you, I was just heading that way," she said, and laughed when Ritsuka's ears quickly swiveled to the top of his head in excitement. "If you come with me and promise not to run, we'll be there in no time."

Ritsuka smiled and thanked the nurse. He even humored her request to take him by the hand so that he didn't get lost. He was old enough to not need the help, but it seemed to make her happy.

The door opened and Ritsuka's eyes met the blue behind Kio's glasses and then swept past him to take in the hospital bed.

"Soubi." He whispered, walking numbly toward the bed. His mind didn't register that Soubi's best friend gently smiled at him and then moved out of the way, and then out the door entirely. It shut with a soft click as Ritsuka met Soubi's eyes for the first time in several days.

Kio and the nurse watched through the blinds on the window as the smaller boy crawled slowly onto the narrow hospital bed and snuggled into a ball on the injured man's chest. They seemed to be speaking, but the closed door hid the soft conversation.

"So this is Ritsuka-kun?" the nurse asked, leaning her head against Kio's shoulder in a familiar way. They had become friends since Soubi's admittance to the hospital and she had even begun letting Kio stay later, provided that he walked the woman to her car at the end of her shift.

"I thought it might be him, since I met him in the hall and he asked for Agatsuma Soubi," she said after Kio nodded very lightly and shrugged her off his shoulder. He smiled mischievously at her out of the corner of his eye and stuck out his tongue.

Then he turned his gaze back to the window to witness the personal moment between Fighter and Sacrifice as Ritsuka pushed his face against the heavily bandaged wounds on Soubi's neck. He turned away and met the sympathetic face next to him, smiling with encouragement.

"Yeah," he finally said, smiling wistfully and pulling off his glasses to clean them on his shirt. "That's Ayogi Ritsuka. I know he doesn't quite believe it, but Sou-chan's totally in love with him. It's hard to deal with, after him being so stoic all the years I've known him."

A doctor wandered by and turned to them to ask about his patient, seeming confident that all would be well.

"Ah, Kayako-san," he said, addressing the nurse, who politely inclined her head and began to rattle off statistics and medical jargon that Kio didn't bother listening to.

He turned back to the window, but this time, seeing the small boy with feline features curled up around his best friend, he didn't feel the squeeze of jealousy against his heart.

Instead, he smiled and bid the nurse and doctor goodnight. It was time to head back to the apartment to check on the other nuisances in his life. If Natsuo and Youji hadn't torn down the apartment looking for food, he'd be extremely surprised.

Ritsuka opened the door to Soubi's apartment and held it open for the taller man to enter before him, his eyes alert for any sign that the blonde might stumble or fall. He was still startlingly pale, and he was already tired from walking out of the hospital to the car, then from the car up the steps to the apartment.

A head poked out from behind a wall to the left, light green hair framed by the kitchen light.

"Oi!" Youji called, turned and speaking to someone else. "Ritsuka-kun is back! Soubi, too."

Ritsuka stepped out of his shoes and put on the small lavender slippers that Soubi had bought for him a few months ago. He stepped onto the hardwood floor and was immediately tackled to the ground.

"Rit-chan!" Natsuo cried, nuzzling his face against Ritsuka's cheek and generally being far too close. "I missed you, you know." He said, his lips set into a pout. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Youji stiffen, even as he laughed at the scene.

The red-head was lifted from Ritsuka as Kio waltzed into the room and then swept him back into the kitchen. "I thought you were helping me make their welcome home meal. Man, you guys are useless!"

"Are not!" Natsuo and Youji chorused, their voices mingling together in perfect harmony. "We're useful for a lot of things," one of them said. Ritsuka thought it was Youji. "Yeah," Natsuo agreed. "We do all sorts of things."

Ritsuka stifled a snicker as he turned back to see Soubi pulling on his own slippers and leaning heavily on the wall. He almost cursed in silence as he rushed back to the artist's side, draping one long arm over his thin shoulder and trying to be a physical support.

As Soubi smiled down at him and idly clutched at the new, pristine bandages adorning his throat, Ritsuka decided that everything would be okay.

It took another hour of bickering among Kio and his "helpers" in the kitchen before the spectacled young artist finally became frustrated enough to order them into his car to help with a new task: picking a fast food joint. Ritsuka waved them off from the front door and then gently closed the door and locked it.

He returned to Soubi's bedroom to find something he hadn't expected.

The blonde artist was pushed against the bedroom wall, and Ritsuka's own brother help him there, one palm flat against his chest and the other curled around his neck, fingers biting into the abused flesh. His Fighter was lounging on the windowsill, looking bored.

Nisei looked up and grinned at the younger boy in the entrance way, but the two older men didn't notice his intrusion. Ritsuka stood still, unable to move, watching.

The hand around Soubi's neck tightened and a bit of blood began to seep through the white cloth there. Seimei leaned his head closer, his eyes completely hidden in his hair.

"And if I ordered you?" he asked. They seemed to be in the middle of a very serious conversation. Ritsuka twitched, wanting to move forward but completely paralyzed with doubt.

After a moment of hesitation, Soubi's eyes closed as he responded, "I would kill myself before I allowed that to happen." His voice was low and calm, though it held a note of fear.

"Good," Seimei muttered, his voice relieved and almost light as if he were discussing a funny tale with a good friend. Then he looked up and turned, catching Ritsuka's eye across the room. His eyes were smiling, and again Ritsuka felt that he was in danger.

"Soubi," Seimei drew out the syllables in the name, still looking at his younger brother. Soubi's eyes opened and he looked, wide-eyed, across the room as well, his demeanor quickly turning panicked.

"I order you to take Ritsuka's ears. Or die trying."

And with that the Fighter and Sacrifice of the BELOVED pair walked calmly out the front door, never looking back, though Ritsuka could see that the smile never left Seimei's face.


End file.
